Measuring the Impact of

Packaging with Neuroscience

Iris Cremers Wim Hamaekers

#shopperbrain #haystackint @wim_haystack

How we see a retailer shelf

In peripheral vision, packs are similar

Unilever & Shopper

Research

Most

shoppers buy

the product

they FIRST

interact with

Brand must stand out !

20.000 - 30.000 SKU’S in NL

A store is an extremely complex environment for shopper brains

26 minutes average shopping trip in NL

Overload of visual information

unique

products are

bought per

year by an

avg HH

#

< 300

Source: Haystack

THE BRAIN DESELECTS BEFORE SELECTING

An existing coding in your memory helps you

quickly recognize the object you are looking for

Shoppers on a planned mission do the same

thing by deselecting what is not relevant to them

POS video

Shopper understanding is

essential

A lot of shopping behaviour is sub-conscious

Most eye fixations in store

are on or around the product

Product

And around product

Shopper brains follow a visual hierarchy

12+

# ?

Shopper brains can’t handle too many messages on a pack

PACK DESIGN IS

THE SINGLE MOST

IMPORTANT THING

TO GET RIGHT FOR

SHOPPERS

Pack is KING

Pack design research – TOP TIPS

BE CAREFUL WITH REDESIGN

=> No revolution

NEVER TEST IN ISOLATION

=> Use shopper / store context

MEASURING PACKAGE IMPACT

WITH NEURO RESEARCH

4 IAT

Are the different elements

communicating the right

message?

UNDERSTAND

2 EEG

Do these elements evoke

positive, neutral or negative

emotional engagement?

ENGAGEMENT

3 GSR

Do these elements provoke

physical activation?

ACTIVATION

1 EYE-TRACKING

What elements draw most

attention and which elements are

hardly seen?

WHAT

Mix traditional tools with biometrics & implicit research tools

ICE CREAM STUDY

Test material

CURRENT DESIGNPROTOTYPE

ROUTE 1

PROTOTYPE

ROUTE 2

BE NOTICED

Route 2 engage positively with shoppers and activate them

Current ROUTE 1 ROUTE 2

Engagement

Activation

BEST PERFORMER

Current Route 1 Route 2 Current Route 1 Route 2

Area of Interest Engagement Activation

Hertog Total

SKU 1

SKU 2

SKU 3

SKU 4

Neuro reveals small differences between SKU’s

Current Route 1 Route 2

Engagement

Activation

Instant attraction

3 sec. 100 97 97

Total attraction

15 sec. 100 97 97

Same shelf impact however 2 route clearly engages better

EQUAL

BETWEEN

ROUTES

Route 2 attracts most shoppers faster

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

3 sec 5 sec 7 sec 10 sec 15 sec

ROUTE 2

ROUTE 1

CURRENT

BE DESIRED &

REMEMBERED

Route 2 stands out, strong communication power!

-0,20

0,00

0,20

0,40

0,60

0,80

1,00

Co

mm

un

ica

tes

ROUTE 2ROUTE 1CURRENT

A B C D E F G H I J

How emotag works

Indulgent

Clear

contrast

Brand nameTasty

Respondents can tag elements they like in the

stimulus and elements they dislike in the stimulus.

For each tag, they are asked to leave an explanation

on what exactly they like or dislike about it.

Dark brown

not appealing

Variant not clear

Route 2 received more positive comments

Pack element 1

Pack element 2

Pack element 3

Pack element 4

Pack element 5

Pack element 6

ROUTE 2

ROUTE 1

What did we learn?

Indication for best design route

Emotional appeal

Stand out from shelf

Level of engagement and activation per design route

What does the pack communicate and what not

=> Explicit areas of pack improvement

=> Choose winning concept to launch

NEURO & PACK

RESEARCH LEARNINGS

1. Use realistic research setups

80% OF THE SHOPPERS READ ONLY FRONT OF PACK

4. Counter verbal measures with neuro

SHOPPERS TEND TO BE RESISTANT TO ACCEPT CHANGE

Lower

purchase

intent &

appreciation(verbal

measures)

Higher

consideration

new pack (eye tracking

measures)

General learnings pack

Be seen! Differentiation is key: use contrast

Guide the shopper – remember the intuitive shopper (habits)

Try to capture mind AND heart: be engaging

Implicit cues are always good to support your message

Limit the number of claims on pack

It’s not a beauty contest – The norm = the competition

THE FUTURE

What’s NEW in what we learned?

Real emotional appeal

Level of sub-conscious engagement on specific areas

Level of sub-conscious activation

=> No claimed behaviour

Future

Further exploration to understand sub-conscious behaviour

Low n needed to be quantitative

Concrete output

Combine with qualitative research

Point of Sales touch points

A wise man’s words

“Not everything that can be counted

counts,

and not everything that counts can be

counted”

Albert Einstein

Our quest is to understand

the unconscious shopper brain better!

Iris CremersEU Shopper Insight Manager

Unilever

Wim HamaekersManaging Partner

@wim_haystackw.hamaekers@haystack-international.com